GANG INFLUENCE ON HIP HOP
MUSIC
In every aspect of HIP HOP culture there is a connection of some sort of gang influence. in many cases HIP HOP heads were gang members them selves. lets take the DJ for example. while KOOL HERC gained respect from gangs by doin his thing, he was also shoutin them out on the mic, and keepin the peace in his jams. he developed a respect from these gang members by giving them respect during his jams. Gangs were also used as protection for DJ's and guarding equipment, and collecting money at the doors of jams. Then of course we have one the South BRONX's biggest gang leaders who turned his gang into the biggest hip hop movement in the streets of new york and eventually the world. I am talkin about AFRIKA BAMBAATAA and the mighty ZULU NATION. BAM gained his street movement with the BLACK SPADES, and soon turned the SPADES into the ORGANIZATION, and eventually the ZULU NATION. they were the the biggest and most feared as well. Aside from BAM there was DJ DICE from CHUCK CHUCK CITY CREW, DJ FLASH and the CASANOVA CREW, and many other DJ affiliations. gangs would show up to jams often to gain there respects, and if that didn't happen, to break sh%t up. but one of the most famous chants to come off during a ZULU jam was when a gang called THE GESTAPO would show up. and back the the ZULU mc's would get the crowd to chant ZULU!, but the Gestapo crew would respond GESTAPO!, in the end the mc would chant ZULU! and the whole crowd would chant back GESTAPO! and it became a popular chant during ZULU jams.
GANG INFLUENCE IN DANCE/UPROCKING (not to be confused with BBOYING)
now in dance, there is a significant amount of information that points to the fact that gangs had a major influence in a dance called UPROCKIN. one such fact is that all the gangs in NYC had a certain dance that they did before going to war. it was sort of like a gang member imitating what he will do to his enemy when they rumble. the dance involved strikes and movements of violence between two dancers. imitating (miming) weapons such as zip guns, knives, bats, and fists. This dance would later be emulated by a brother in BROOKLYN named "RUBBER BAND" (also a brother named "APACHE") who was eventually murdered over a dance battle gone bad. It is said that he was one of the greatest dancers on the streets. RUBBER BAND was also said to have laid the foundation of the dance with JERKS and BURNS and was responsible for takin the gang style dance to the clubs and made it popular with the DISCO CROWD and it eventually became a dance done all over the city by gangsters and non gangsters alike. But it was common knowledge that BROOKLYN mastered this dance with such crews as DYNASTY ROCKERS. (for more info on uprockin "http://hometown.aol.com/WEPAMAN/uprock.html").
GANG INFLUENCE IN WRITING/GRAFFITI
This is probably the easiest connection to make in reference to gangs inspiring elements in HIP HOP. the truth is evident in other cities where gangs marked there turf with there tags and signs and claimed there hoods with graffiti. allot of writers came from gangs, and while writing can be argued as being an element of HIP HOP, there were tons of writers that had nothing to do with HIP HOP and weren't even black or Latino. One of the first writers on record to hit up in NYC was a writer with GREEK origin named "TAKI", but also what needs to be noted is that the earliest writers that started the movement in NYC were in Philly, a writer named CORNBREAD wanted to please a girl he was after, so by taggin her name on her bus route he figured he can get her attention, and before you know it , writing flourished it's way to NYC. but aside from this history, writing was a one of the best ways to let any outside gangsters know what hood they were in so they can watch there step, and remove there colors (jacket with there names on it) before they would enter any other rivals area. This would be the same in almost every ghetto in America, from cholo gangs in LA , to the gangs in Chicago, as well as NYC.

THE DJ (KOOL HERC)
in 1955 in KINGSTON JAMAICA, a child was born who would eventually end up in one of the darkest ghettos in America, and father a culture that would soon change the sound of music .
the child's name: Clive Campbell (aka KOOL HERC)
the place: The BRONX
the culture: HIP HOP
Clive Campbell migrated to New York's west BRONX when he was only 12 years old. When the young Clive Campbell was attending Alfred E. Smith high school, he was constantly lifting weights in the school weight room. And when you add his huge body with his tallness that him as well as his brother KENNETH had. You would understand why the other kids nick named him HERCULES.
Initially HERC was down with a writing crew (graffiti group) young Herc was always inspired by the sounds and culture of his JAMAICAN roots, toasting, and the dubbing (mc'in and dj'in) that the DJ's had in his original birth place was instilled in his soul. He eventually got a system of his own and began dj'in locally to help make money to buy his lil sis some school clothes. His first DJ gig was a party in 1520 Sedgwick. in a small recreation center that his sister rented for about $25, and they would charge about 25 cents for girls and 50 cents for guys at that time. He began to throw many parties there before a predominantly African American crowd (at this time the Latinos were more heavily into LATIN DANCE and DISCO). that's where herc would also fine tune his personal love for the break sections of all of his records. Although herc could still get the crowd jumping by playing "Listen To Me" by Baby Huey full out. Through his knowledge that every Jamaican record had a dub side to it, he focused on the break downs of instrumentals, and drum solos. He new that by extending the break he could lock the crowd into a state of frenzy. You see herc studied the crowd response when ever the drum solo would kick in, and he figured that by extending that drum solo, he could keep the whole atmosphere in that one state. So he began buying two copies of each record, (which he would soak the labels off so that other DJ's couldn't find out what records he was playing) and began to manipulate the turntables when the break ended on one turntable he would start it all over again on the next turn table, and would do this over and over until he saw it fit to throw on the next crazy beat. he called this the merry go round. Not only was he known for having the funkiest breaks but hercs biggest claim to fame was his sound system. It was said that herc named his crew the herculoids, but he son clarified that the name herculoids was a name he gave to his sound system. It was so loud that no other DJ could compete with him in a park jam battle which a young up and coming DJ by the name of Africa Bambaataa found out when he was blown away by herc's system in a battle. Herc owned what was known as a macintosh amp, which at the time was the most respected power amp, and also had sure speaker columns, he dubbed his system the "HERCULORDS" and his distinct sound was based on his heavy bass. he was also quoted saying that the only person that was close to him ion his time was a kid named "SMOKEY". herc began playing in clubs like twilight zone, and eventually the hevalo club. as his fame grew other DJ's began to make there contributions to hercs sound. Herc was also known for toastin on the mic and shouting people out from the crowd to get more crowd response. this came from things he remembered from his native Jamaica. and he also had what was known as the first mc to rock a hip hop party. "COKE LA ROCK" and HERC also had an MC named "TIMMY TIM".